"We need more writers with bite. We have lived in the flatlands too long," writes John Barnie in one of his 'observations' ('Art in the Flatlands'). And bite he delivers.Ranging across politics, history, culture, ecological disaster, the meaning of truth, poetry, what we mean by identity and more... Barnie shares a window onto the world that is both erudite and particular. Leaning towards pessimism in a darkening world, these observations are often provocative, not from any bullish desire to antagonise, but as the result of mining a rationalist line of thought with an honesty and consistency that is applied as much to the author as to his subjects. There is a clarity here that some may find uncomfortable, but the aim is always dialogue above agreement; intellectual engagement above cheap solutions and sentimentality.Barnie asks us to think, consider and dig deeper, but most of all he asks that we "...live richly among our secondary self-created meanings, while recognising them for what they are. To face without flinching the nullity of the great void." ('Varieties of Meaning')Tsunami Days is a vital collection of essays for those prepared to engage with its unflinching observations.John Barnie is a poet and essayist from Abergavenny, Gwent. John was the editor of Planet, The Welsh Internationalist from 1990-2006. His collections of essays, The King of Ashes, won a Welsh Arts Council Prize for Literature in 1990. His collection Trouble in Heaven was on the Wales Book of the Year 2008 Long List. His most recent collections are A Report to Alpha Centauri (Cinnamon Press), Afterlives (Leaf by Leaf) and the forthcoming Dunes of Cwm Rheidol (Cinnamon Press)..